


Take my heart clean apart

by starsontheceiling



Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Character Death, Gen, Modern AU, Zuko and Sokka best friends for life, platonic I love yous are a foundation of my personality and now also Sokka's, specifically Yue, weird reactions to grief
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-07
Updated: 2020-10-07
Packaged: 2021-03-08 02:15:18
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,218
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26878027
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/starsontheceiling/pseuds/starsontheceiling
Summary: “I need you to come pick me up.”“Don’t you have someone a little closer home to be your taxi driver these days?”Or: Yue dies and Sokka runs away.
Comments: 8
Kudos: 59





	Take my heart clean apart

**Author's Note:**

> I like making my friends suffer

The funeral is strange.

It feels like he’s watching the whole thing from afar; he listens to the priest talk, and notices almost clinically how the label in his shirt is scratching the back of his neck.

When it comes to the part he’s supposed to speak Hakoda has to nudge him before he realises what’s going on. The walk to the lectern feels like it takes an eternity and when he looks down at his speech the words don’t look real. Somehow, he gets through the whole thing, unable to acknowledge the muffled sobs coming from the congregation.

All he can think is that he wants everything to be over.

He watches them bury the coffin and tries to correlate the dull thuds of the soil hitting the wood with the way Yue’s laugh had sounded.

He books the plane ticket that night.

\------  


He’s rudely awoken by the plane landing and is totally disorientated for several long seconds. He’d, somehow, gotten to the airport without the magnitude of what he was doing really hitting him; momentum carrying him to the departure lounge and any doubts muffled by the fog that’s cloaked him since the phone call from Arnook.

“Welcome to California, folks.” The pilot says jovially over the intercom and the panic starts clawing its way up his throat.

He doesn’t really have any option but to turn on his phone and once he’s connected to the airport wifi it starts buzzing with the backlog of notifications. Despite knowing how necessary it is he still struggles to press call; the guilt at the small, red, 27 next to Zuko’s name is the first thing that’s really pushed through the haze of the past two weeks.

He picks up within two rings.

“Sokka what the fuck I’ve been so worried about you,”

Humiliatingly, that’s what finally pushes him over the edge and he lets out a sob. 

“Fuck it’s ok I’m sorry, I was just so scared when you fell off the face of the earth. I,”

There are people staring at him and he turns to face the wall, the illusion of privacy as good as he’s going to get. “I need you to come pick me up.”

“Don’t you have someone a little closer home to be your taxi driver these days?”

He interrupts him again. “No, you don’t understand. I did something stupid. I need you to come get me.”

“Sokka?”

“I’m at the airport. I’m here. I’m in California.”

“Fuck.”

“I know. I’m sorry. I couldn’t just stay there.” He’s crying too hard to continue.

“Hey, I’m leaving right now. LAX right?”

“Uh-huh.” Sokka can hear some commotion in the background on Zuko’s end but there’s a muffled voice and it stops.

“Do you know where you’re coming out?”

“No. I’m sorry.” He says again, helplessly. “It’s terminal two.”

“Text me as soon as you know, ok?”

“Yeah.” He takes a deep breath and it hitches with another sob.

“Ok I’m getting in the car. Do you want me to stay on the line?”

“No. You shouldn’t be distracted while you’re driving.” He says and hates how frantic he sounds. “Anyways, I’m in passport control and you aren’t supposed to have your phone out.”

“Ok. Call me if you change your mind, it’ll go through the Bluetooth, ok?”

“Yeah.”

“I’ll see you soon, yeah?”

“Drive safe.”

“I will.”

“I love you.” Sokka feels kind of ridiculous saying it but he can’t help himself. He isn’t going to let any more of his friends die without making sure they know. 

There’s a long pause and he thinks Zuko isn’t going to say it back but then, “I love you too. I’ll be there soon.”

\------

Stepping out into the warm night air loosens the vice around his heart a little, and when he sees Zuko leaning up against his car it loosens a little more. He doesn’t actually run up to him, he’s too tired for that but he definitely speeds up. Zuko brightens at the sight of him, although it morphs into concern as he gets closer.

“Sokka, what happened?”

“Yue,” Sokka’s voice cracks. “She, she was in an accident.”

“Oh God.”

“She didn’t, she’s, she’s dead.”

Zuko hugs him and in some distant part of Sokka’s brain it occurs to him that he must look really bad if Zuko is initiating a hug. His tears are definitely making a mess on Zuko’s jacket.

“I missed you.” He says, into Zuko’s shoulder.

“Me too. Please don’t ever scare me like that again.”

Sokka presses his eyes closed even tighter. “I’m sorry.”

“I understand why now, I was just so worried.” Zuko finally lets go. “We should get a move on. Do you want to go straight back or, actually, when was the last time you ate?”

Sokka puts his backpack into the trunk. “I’m not sure.”

“Jesus. Well we’re getting food first then. Is there anything you’ve really missed?”

“I could go for In-n-Out.” He offers, almost shyly. Zuko smiles.

“Well then, let’s go.”

\------

They don’t speak for a lot of the drive back. Zuko puts on a quiet playlist and Sokka watches the still familiar lights stream past. They’ve just passed the 25 miles to go sign when Zuko breaks the silence.

“Are you ready for bed?”

It takes him a while to answer, he’s tired but the coffee he’d had with his food has left him jittery, even several hours later. “Not really.”

“Ok.”

“Why?”

“I figured we could go watch the sunrise, seeing as we’re going to be up for it anyway.”

“Oh. Don’t you want to sleep?”

“Not really.”

\------

“Thank you,” Sokka’s voice cracks and he has to swallow before he can continue, “For bringing me here.”

Zuko doesn’t respond immediately and Sokka steals a glance at him, but he isn’t even looking at Sokka; he’s staring at the brightening horizon. “It’s nothing.” Zuko says eventually and his words tug at something in Sokka’s chest.

“We both know that’s not true,” he counters and his voice still sounds strange. He swallows again. “You’ve been driving all night, and you still brought me up here to see the sunrise. It’s not nothing.”

Zuko shrugs, still not looking at him. “Iroh used to bring me here a lot when I was younger, after everything. Life is pretty terrible for you too right now. I wanted to do something nice for you.”

Sokka laughs gently, trying to ignore the lump in his throat that Zuko’s words have caused. “You picked me up in the middle of the night from the airport, with no warning. That’s pretty nice.”

Zuko finally looks over at him. “You know what I mean. I wanted to give you something happy.” This time he can’t stop the tears and Zuko’s expression shifts into alarm. “You can’t cry, this is supposed to be making you happy.” Sokka laughs wetly at that and Zuko tentatively smiles back at him. Sokka leans his head on Zuko’s shoulder.

Neither of them speak again until the first of the sun’s rays break over the horizon.

“I wanted to show her this.” Sokka admits, so softly he thinks Zuko might not have heard but Zuko sighs and leans his head against Sokka’s.

“I know you did.”

This time Sokka doesn’t even try to stop the tears.


End file.
